


What is, What Never Was, and What Could be Again

by malum_animi



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 08:46:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3804163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malum_animi/pseuds/malum_animi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Seth made the biggest mistake of his life when he turned on his brothers. Now Roman and Dean have moved on with each other and Seth has lost everything. They had never quite gotten themselves together during The Shield, but as Roman and Dean realize they've not moved on as much as they had tried to believe they had, there might just be a light at the end of the tunnel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	What is, What Never Was, and What Could be Again

Seth wasn't sure where things went wrong in his life. He had gone from being World Heavyweight Champion, being on the top of the world, having succeeded in ways that he had always wanted but always thought was nothing but a dream. He had had fans who hated him, fans who loved him (fans that wanted to get into his pants). He had made his family and friends proud. 

Now he was nothing. No longer The Authority's golden boy. No longer on top of the world, no longer the World Heavy Weight Champion. He no longer had the cheers of the fans, his friends gave him sympathetic looks (his mother was still proud of him but he doubted she would ever not be). 

Scratch that. Seth knew exactly where things had gone wrong in his life. Things had gone wrong in his life the exact moment he had shaken hands with Hunter. The moment he had slammed a chair into the backs of his best friends and brothers (and more but Seth didn't dwell on that anymore). 

God he had never regretted something so much in his life. He should never have trusted The Authority, should never trusted Hunter and his smirk and his promises of making it big If only you trust me son, I can make everything you dreamed of getting come true. 

And he had, Hunter had done exactly what he had said he was going to. He had put Seth on the top. And then he had laughed as he systematically destroyed the moutain Seth was standing on, while still singing Seth's praises, blinding him to the truth. 

He couldn't believe he had been so foolish. 

Sitting in the corner of the ring, his body aching as he watched Roman hold the title up high after successfully defending it against Seth's rematch, he couldn't help but smile a little, pride tugging at his heart. Roman deserved the title so much more than he ever had. Roman had the talent, the skills, the love of nearly everyone who met him. He was the perfect champion. 

And then there was Dean, running full tilt down the ramp and rolling into the ring, his own IC belt around his waist as he all but tackled Roman in a hug. The tug of pride turned into a tug of pain. They looked so happy, he mused as he watched Roman wrap Dean in a hug, oblivious to him and the roaring crowd as they grinned at each other, Dean bouning on his heels as he lunged up and pressed a kiss to Roman's temple. 

He was glad they had gotten over him so easily. They had never offically been a thing, the three of them, but at the time of Seth's betrayal, that could have changed at any moment, the way they were acting around each other. 

Staring at the two for a moment longer, Seth swallowed hard, refusing to cry (especially on TV) and rolled out of the ring, limping his way back up the ramp, hair in his face as he tried to turn out the cheers turned boos and sharp insults as the crowd turned their attention to him. He was used to it at this point.  
He never saw Roman and Dean pause in their in ring celebration to watch him leave with frowns on their faces. 

Slipping back behind the curtain, Seth continued to ignore everyone he saw, deaf to the jabbed comments and nasty looks the rest of the roster threw him as he made his way to the back of the arena, finding a relatively quiet looking spot. Sliding down to the conrete, Seth curled up, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in his arms as silent tears slid down his cheeks. He wouldn't make a sound when he cried, he never did. Not wanting to draw attention to himself. He would just shake quietly and hope no one stumbled across him, tucked back into the corner like he was. Knowing some of the guys he worked with, there would be pictures on twitter and instagram of him before he even knew what was happening. 

Later he would pick himself up and try to clean himself up enough that it didn't look like he had been crying. He would catch a cab back to his hotel, call Stephanie (who still had a soft spot for him) and take a well needed break. He wouldn't go home, he didn't need or want the well meaning words or affection from his family. He would go to one of the old Shield safehouses, one of the ones that Roman and Dean had stopped using. He knew his key still worked, he had been there in the past when he needed to get away from life a little. He wasn't needed anymore after all.

 

Back in the ring, Dean was still staring at the ramp he had watched Seth walk up. He didn't know why, considing everything the man had put them through, but seeing Seth walk away like that had hurt. He had never seen Seth look so...broken. It was a look he was used to seeing in the mirror usually. 

"Dean?" Roman asked, breaking his concentrated gaze on the entrance and making him turn to look up at him. 

"I'm fine. Come on champ, lets get out of here, we have some celebrating to do that really doesn't require an audiece.' he said, smirking at Roman and wrapping his hand around his wrist to pull him out of the ring, smirking and winking over at the crowd. 

Roman chuckled quietly and let Dean pull him out of the ring, following him backstage. "I saw the way he looked too you know." he murmured just loud enough that Dean could hear him as they pushed through the small group of their coworkers who had gathered to congratulate Roman. He smiled at the well wishes and accepted the pats on the back, before he pulled Dean against his side and into their dressing room. 

"He brought it onto himself." Dean muttered with a huff, taking the belt from Roman and laying it aside as he rested his hands on his bare chest. Dean loved that Roman had gone from wearing the vest to shirtless. 

"I know he did. But I also know that we both never really got over him." Roman pointed out, leaning in to press a kiss to Dean's jaw, slipping his hands under the black tank top.  
Dean closed his eyes and tilted his head to give Roman more room as his hands slide around his sides, pulling Roman closer to him. "It doesn't matter. He made his bed. He gets to lay in it now." 

Roman sighed and pressed a line of kisses down Dean's neck, nipping gently at his skin "Do you really think that Dean?" he murmured against his skin.  
Dean pulled away from Roman and sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair and shrugging a little "I don't know. Do we have to talk about this Ro?" he asked "I just want to congratulate you, I don't want to talk about Seth or if I miss him." he mumbled.

Roman frowned but nodded, stepping forward and pulling Dean against his chest, leaning in to kiss him softly "I'm sorry, I'll drop it." he said when he pulled away from Dean's lips, giving him a small smile. "Want to finish congratulating me?" he asked.

Dean returned the kiss and chuckled "Always." he said, sliding his hands down Roman's stomach and unfastening his pants, shoving them down as he dropped to his knees. "Who's idea was it to give blowjobs when we win matches? It was a wonderful idea." he mumbled half to himself. 

Roman just smirked and threaded his fingers through Dean's hair. He wouldn't remind Dean that it had been Seth's idea originally. Or well, he would, but it would be later, much later. When he didn't have Dean's mouth around his cock. 

It wasn't until later that Dean started thinking about Seth again, curled up against Roman's side in their hotel room. He watched the samoan sleep, fingers tracing the lines of his tattoo and sighed. He loved Roman. Really truly loved him. But he had been right. He hadn't gotten over Seth. Not one bit. There was still a hole in his heart shaped like the man and it didn't seem to be going away any time soon. He had fallen hard for Seth and Roman during their time in The Shield, and he had really thought things were going to be perfect between them, they had been days away from figuring out their shit. 

Dean wondered just what Hunter had told Seth to make him turn his back on all that. It had to have hit all of Seth's buttons just right to get him to agree. Had he only promised the belt? Or had there been something else promised to him as well? 

Dean couldn't imagine anything that could get him to turn his back on Roman. Hell, he didn't think a garuntee at being champion could get him to leave Roman behind. "Fuck." he muttered, pressing his face into Roman's shoulder. He still loved Seth. Just as deeply as he had before everything went to shit. 

"Dean?' 

Roman's sleepy voice made him look up and he looked at his sheepishly "Sorry Ro, I didn't mean to wake you." he mumbled quietly.

Roman yawned and shifted in the bed, turning onto his side and smiling at Dean "S'alright, wasn't you. Why are you awake? Not nightmares again?" he asked in concern. Dean's habit of having nightmares had always been a concern for Roman, especially since Dean didn't like telling people he was having them until he was damn near about to drop from exhaustion. 

Dean shook his head and sighed, turning onto his back and staring up at the ceiling. "You were right." he mumbled.

"I usually am, but what about this time?" Roman said, resting his hand confortingly on Dean's stomach and rubbing gently. 

"Seth. I never got over him." 

"I know. You call out for him sometimes in your sleep." Roman said softly, pressing a kiss to Dean's temple. It didn't bother him, he knew how Dean felt, he missed Seth like a limb sometimes. 

Dean grimaced at the new information and rubbed a hand over his face "I didn't know that."

"You don't do it alot." 

Dean sighed and dropped his hand to cover Roman's, lacing their fingers together and squeezing absently "What are we supposed to do? Go to him? Hell, for all we know, he's moved on just fine." he mumbled.

"I think we both know that isn't the case." Roman pointed out. They might not talk to Seth anymore, but they weren't blind. They had both seen how downtrodden and tired Seth had been looking. The dark circles under his eyes were apparent and the normally sparkling brown eyes were flat and dull. 

"Yeah I know. That still doesn't tell me what we're supposed to do." Dean pointed out. 

"I don't know Dean. I really don't. I guess we can try if you want. Go after him, talk to him, see if he's still interested in us." Roman said with a sigh, tugging Dean against his side. "But for now we need sleep."

Dean nodded and curled up against Roman's chest, pressing his face against his skin. "Love you." he mumbled, pressing a kiss to the edge of his tattoo.

"Love you too Dean."


End file.
